After the death of a woman with a mixture of antiseptics ... the Egyptians between the danger of corona and the chaos of recipes

Mahmoud Seddik - Cairo

After the Corona virus caused panic in Egypt, like most countries in the world, the news of the death of a housewife came while she was trying to prepare a sterile disinfectant at home, to add another reason for panic and discomfort.

The lady - who lives in the Osim region in Giza Governorate - like many Egyptians was unable to buy sterilizers, either because she disappeared from the market or because of the high prices, and she decided to follow one of the recipes to make a substance that cleans the home, using a mixture of chlorine, vinegar, water and sulfuric acid.

But the experience caused the release of a toxic gas that affected the family members (husband, wife, and three children) and they were absent from consciousness for a while, while the lady disappeared from consciousness and did not return, as her soul was overwhelmed by the inhalation of toxic gas.

The traumatic incident drew attention to the shortage of sterile and sterile materials in Egypt, which increased its demand after successive news of hundreds of Coronavirus infections, as well as dozens of deaths, which did not prevent the Egyptian authority from announcing that it sent medical assistance - including masks - to Italy; to attract much criticism on the media from bloggers, surprised by this behavior, at a time when Egyptians struggle to obtain these supplies, if they exist.

increase followers
But the incident also drew another side to the chaos of information that swept through social networking sites, which is looking for an increase in the number of its followers and visitors, according to what Al-Jazeera Net tells social networking expert Mahmoud Sami, who expressed his surprise at how much information was flooded with social media pages and websites. Small, YouTube channels; how to prevent corona virus.

Sami, who is the owner of a content management company, added that these websites, which seek to attract browsers, offered a lot of random and contradictory recipes for home sterilization, taking advantage of the panic that affected citizens, fearing infection with the Corona virus.

Despite the warnings of specialists about the danger of these mixtures, and advised them that chlorine diluted with water is sufficient alone, the pages echo and spread among the Egyptians - due to the large number of publications - were more than the words of the specialists and the documented information, according to Sami.

Dangerous recipes
For his part, food science and technology specialist Adel Abdel Rahim strongly warns of the dangers of messages circulating on WhatsApp and Facebook groups, which advise unscientific recipes, including mixing chlorine, salt, vinegar or lemon salt, and he says it may lead to immediate death as a result of toxic gases out of the interaction of those substances together.

Abdul Rahim assured Al-Jazeera Net that the chlorine diluted with water is completely sufficient to sterilize the surfaces and floors to prevent corona virus, and any other virus.

Abdel-Rahim indicated to the early warning launched by the Poison Center at the Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, against mixing several types of detergents that were circulated on the means of communication, which may result in deadly toxic gases, causing pain, inflammation, congestion of the respiratory tract, and difficulty breathing, as well as congestion in Eye and membranes that line the nose and mouth, which may necessitate placing the patient on a ventilator.

Causing blindness
As for the member of the Pharmaceutical Studies Sector Committee in the Supreme Council of Universities, Mohi Hafiz, he touched on another product that was recently circulated in the market as a disinfectant despite its great danger, which is methyl alcohol, which contains methanol, not ethanol, which is used in the manufacture of known ethyl alcohol.

Methanol - according to Hafez 'press statements - causes blindness, ulcers and urticaria to the skin, such as putting fire water on your skin, of course, that will harm it and erode the skin, similar to the promoters of the product who put poison in infant formula, as it was premeditated killing, and a crime that causes permanent disability, and there is no escape from That they be referred to the criminal court immediately and tried.

Prices doubled
It is noteworthy that the supervisory agencies seized a large number of factories, warehouses and workshops in which disinfectants and medical supplies are manufactured to be put up for sale to the public, seizing the opportunity of the market's thirst for disinfectants and medical preparations, since the beginning of the spread of the Covid-19 virus, and sold for up to five times the original price.

Rather, the Ministry of Health warned citizens not to use its name by claiming that they were affiliated with the Ministry, and they were sent to sterilize homes for a financial fee, and the Ministry confirmed that it does not direct any preventive teams inside the houses.

The Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade initiated the launch of the products of a company affiliated with the government business sector from ethyl alcohol and cologne that contain large proportions of alcohol, and even put them to the citizens on the ration cards.

Briefing request
On the other hand, a female parliamentarian submitted a request to brief the Prime Minister and the Ministers of Health and the Interior on the popularity of the market for tools, medical preparations, and disinfectants.

Representative Anisa Hassouneh said, in a briefing request, that the fraud operation swept through some areas, especially the shops that recycle quantities of detergents and sell them again inside the markets after they expired.

She stressed that the lack of antiseptics in pharmacies created a black market for them, while raising their prices three times the real price, stressing the need to develop the mechanisms and capabilities of the state agencies involved in monitoring the market of medical tools related to the prevention of the Corona virus, and to control offenders.

Skin burns
On the other hand, citizens complained to Al-Jazeera Net about severe skin infections, especially in the hands, as well as severe pain in the eyes due to their use of chlorine for sterilization; despite purchasing this material from places that are supposed to be specialized and guaranteed, they said.

The dermatologist and genital specialist Rashad Ibrahim Mustafa believes that these citizens may have been exposed to erroneous information spreading to the use of chlorine in disinfection, so it should not be used to cleanse hands or face, but rather it is not used without wearing protective gloves.

Safe ratios
Mustafa, in a dialogue with Al-Jazeera Net, advised citizens to dilute chlorine with water (in a ratio of 1 to 9 water intake) without adding any other substance such as vinegar, but rather not to put it in spray bottles (puffer), and they do not try to spray it with air; but it is used only in cleaning Bathrooms floors, bathrooms, and shoe soles.

Likewise, the alcohol used by some to sterilize and disinfect surfaces and buildings should be handled with caution, as it also causes - as a result of caustic substances in its composition - body burns, corrosion and skin damage, and it should only be used in the minimal limits, Mustafa said.

And Egypt has approved a curfew for citizens on the public roads starting from seven in the evening until six in the morning Cairo time, starting from Wednesday, March 25 this year, and for a period of 15 days to confront the outbreak of the Corona virus inside the country.